Spoke for vehicle wheels



Sept. 17, 1929. A. MELDRUM l 'I srxE Fon vBHIcLnwHEELs A File Feb. 15. 192s s INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 17, 1929 UNITED STAT-ES PATENT OFFICE iinnxnivrniin MELDRUM, orysyneonsn, New YORK, ssieivon, Bv essieu.-y Mnirrs, 'ro HURLBURT W. SMITH AND WILBERT i.. SMITH, lisorii oF sYnAcUsn, t

NEW YORK sPoKE Fonvniiicnn Wire-Ens f Application rfiled `Iebruary This invention relates to vehicle wheels and more particularly toy metal vehicle Wheels adapte-d for automotive vehicles. f

` It is a general object ot the present inven- 5 tion to provide an all-metal spoked wheel.

More particularly itis an object of the present invention to provide a metal felloe, and metal spokes having inner wheel formed of a A still further object of the piesent rinvention consists in the provision of novel means 'for interlocking the inner adJoining ends of metal spokes and for securing their outer ends to a felloe.

Wheels for automotive vehicles maybe divided generally into two classes, first 'those which contain a considerable portionofwood in their structure, particularly the spokes, and

r second those which are all metal. Of the latter class there are several types, including disc wheels, one piece cast wheels, Wheels in which the hub, spoke and relloe are formed as cast sectors bolted, riveted or together, and so on. rIhe otherwise secured present invention contemplates the provision of a wheel in which a single rpressed metal felloe isar` ranged to receive the tenoned ends of hollow cast metal spokes,`each spoke having yat its inner end a sector-like hub forming portion so that when the radial faces of these sectorlike portions are placed adj acent to each other they form a complete inner ring or hubwhich is adapted to receive side plates flor a finish and an inner bearing member or secondary hub.

The invention may best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawing and following specification, wherein isdisclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention with the understanding, however,kr that various changes may be ma de therein by those skilled in the art without kdeparting `from the spirit oi* the. invent-io the appended Claims.

n or the scope of 15,1926. seriiiro. tease.KL

, In said drawing;rk r f Figure lis a side elevation of a wheel constructed according to thev present'invention, a portion of the felloe being broken away to more clearly disclose the method of 'fastening the spoke endstherein;

rFigure 2 is a transverse section otFigl,y 'A I Figure 3 is a side elevation of two kof the spokes on an enlarged scale showing the manner of securing their sector-like ends to# gether; Figure 4; is an end view of one of the spokes looking from the tenoned end;

Figure 5 isa partial elevation of the radial face of the sector portion of one of the spokes;

Figure 6 isa similar view of the abutting face on the adjoining spoke; and f f Figure 7 is' a section online 7 7 of Fig. .3.

Referring to the drawing, there is disclosed at 10 a pressed metal felloe ot' the construction adapted for use witha demountable rim, al-` though it will be obvious that any form .of felloe may be used. This telloe is preferably rolled from a sinjgle'piece of sheet steel or similar metalto ysubstantially a channel-like form, having its inner face or web 1l substantially cylindrical and provided with perforations l2 to receive the tenoned ends ofthe spokes 13. f i 'f f i* Any suitable number of spokes f may be used in accordance With the desired strength and appearance of the wheel. In the'drawing seven have beenshown by way of illustra'- tion. Eachspoke consists primarily of two parts, ythe tubular outer end portionl and the inner sector-like hub-forming` portion 15. kThe spokes are preferablyformed ion line 2 2` y hollow and constructed by casting from any suitable metal having suiiicient malleability 'for the [purposes to be later described. The outer tubular end has thin Walls and is of any suitable transverse cross section such as circular, ellipticalor otherwise, and may or may not taper from the hub outwardg' Eaclispoke vis reduced fin* diameter at itsend tov form a shoulder it/which abuts against the inner cylindricalface of the felloe and ysupports it yagainst inward movement The reduced yportion or tenori 17 beyond the shoulder isy complete closure of the hub part.

tion. Then the spokes are positioned' in theV felloe as shown in Fig; 1 the ends of the tenons 17 project beyond the outer face of the felloe web and are suitably formed over to retain them in position, as by rolling, swaging or staking, thus insuring a rigid connection between the spokes and the felloe.

The inner end of each spoke is sector-like in shape and integral with the tubular por-y tion la. lt has a pair of radial plates 18 and 19 each of which is adapted to abut against the corresponding plate on the adjacent spoke when the spokes are assembled to form a wheel.l These plates are connected by the fillet port-ions 20 with the tubular part of the hub to form, not only a pleasing outline, but a Side members 21 connect the plates together at their ends at either side of the wheel and short radius fillets 22 lead from the tubular portions of the spoke and from the fillets 2O to form thevparts 23 which join the other ends of the plates 18- and 19 together. The parts 21 and 23 are ofv thickened section so that when the spokes are assembled they form a plane radial surface on either side of the hub adapted toreceivev the finishing discs 24 which are secured on opposite sides of the hub portion by means of the bolts 25 which pass through apertures 26' in the side members'of each spoke. These apertures are surrounded by rings of metal 27 connected to the parts 21 and 23, whichl are outlined on their inner surfaces by the reinforcing ribs or bosses 28.

These reinforcing ribs or bosses join the ra,- dial ribs 29 and 30 the former of which leads to the inner end of the spoke and the latter, part way intothe tubular portion of the spoke for strengthening purposes. The inner ends ofthe spokes are open, as best shown in Fig. 2 and arcuatein form so that when all the spokes are arranged within the felloe an opening 31 is left for the bearing member or secondary hub 32 which may or may vnot be secured to one of the pla-.tes 24. In case it is not secured to the plates it is held inA position by them in any suitable manner.

In order tofhold thespokes secu-rely in positionl without relying too much on the side plates 2l and to prevent the wheel from d-ishing, meansare provided to lock. each spoke tothe adjacent spokes at the h-ub. For this purpose the plates 187 and 19 have free edges 33y and 34 between the parts 21 and 23 provided by the cutout portions 35 and 36, which assist in lighten-ing the spoke. The free edge 33o-f the plate 19; is provided with 1the spokes into position.

a notch 37 and the opposite edge 34 is provided with a pair of slits 38 to define the tongue 39. The edge of plate 18 is provided with a corresponding notch and tongue but in a reverse position as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 so that when a pair of plates 18 and 19 on adjoining spokes are abutted together the tongue on each plate may be bent into the notch on the adjacent plate as best shown in F ig. 7 to thus form a very rigid connection between the two adjoining spokes.

It is to be understood thatv the spokesI are formed of metal which is sufliciently malleable to allow the tenons to be swaged over and the tongues bent as just described. rlhe wheel is assembled by placing a spoke tenon ineach of the openings 11, and here it should be noted that the non-circular arrangement of these openings and tenons insures the spokes of a proper positioning when they are first assembled and prevents any rotationv during the assembly. rllhe inner sector-like ends are then arranged adjacent to each other and in a dished form and pressure applied to force them into the central plane of the wheel thus insuring a tight lit between the plates 18 and 19 and forcing the shoulders 16 tightly against the inner surface of the felloe. The tongues by their interlocking engagement with the notches in the adj acent spokes absolutely prevent any relative Yradial movements between the spokes. This feature is of extreme importance particularly in a wheel of the present construction containing a small number of spokes. lNhen the spokes are arranged in a pyramided or dished form and are being forced into position by pressure axially of the wheel there is a tendency, due to the tapered hub ends of the spokes, to force some of them outwardly more than others and thus distort the felloe and destroy its true circular form. r1`he tongues in the notches absolutely prevent this. At the same time the non-circular configuration of the tenons prevents any positive rotation of any spoke during the assembling and pressing operation and thus increases the ease with which the wheel can be assembled. It is to be noted that the tongues 39 do not project beyond the faces of the spokes to interfere with any means used to press the After the wheel has thus been assembled7 the tongues 39 are all bent over into the notches 87 and their ends are bent still further around the metal of the adjacent plate which contains the notch, thus forming a wheel which is extremely rigid and insuring against a collapse of the wheel resulting from an` accident to the car on which it may be used. The spokes are of such thinness that the complete wheel weighs no more than a corresponding wood wheel of the same size, but the strength of the wheel is from two toV three times as great as that of a wooden spoke wheel.

It is desired that the invention be not li1nited to the exact means of securing the spokes together, for it is obvious that they could be secured together by riveting, Welding or forcing pieces over the edges of the plates 18 and 19. However, the present method eliminates pany loose parts or the handling of the same, and insures that upon the initial assembly of the Wheel all parts will be in readiness for the final securing together of the spokes.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as nevir and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A metal spoke for Wheels including a tubular radial portion and an integral, sector-like7 hub-forming portion, radial plate members forming faces of said hub portion and adapted to abut similar faces on adjacent spokes When formed into a Wheel7 the lateral edges of each plate member being free, one lateral edge of each plate having a notch therein and the other lateral edge having spaced slits delining a tongue, said notches and tongues being so positioned that when the plates of adjoining spokes are abutted the tongues on each plate may be bent into the notches of the other.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

ALEXANDER MELDRUM. 

